This interview is part of Moment’s Jewish Political Voices Project. To learn more about the project, click here. To see our other participants, click here. To see all posts from Chesky, click here.
Age: 48
Occupation: Rabbi, health-care industry contractor
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Party Registration: Democratic
Jewish Denomination: Orthodox (Hasidic)
Current 2024 Vote: Undecided but leaning Republican
2020 Vote: Joe Biden
Family: Married; 8 children and 2 grandchildren
News Sources: Ami Magazine, Yeshiva World News
Who are you voting for and why?
I will probably vote for Trump; I’m 99.9 percent sure. Harris was a good pick for the Democrats, but she doesn’t have such a good record with the Jews. She has nothing to show. Trump is the best choice for Jewish issues, for Israel and the Middle East.
What is your greatest hope if Trump is elected and greatest fear if he isn’t?
I saw something in the news that Harris might be open to an arms embargo on Israel. She seems very liberal and progressive—and it’s scary. She tries to be in favor with the “Squad.” The talk was that she didn’t pick Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania for VP because he’s Jewish. I don’t think that’s the truth, but I’m just saying what people are saying. Her husband, Doug Emhoff, is very supportive of Israel, but I don’t think it crosses over to her. My hope for Trump is that if he’s elected, all these wars are going to stop, or at least be minimized—whether it’s Ukraine or Israel. I think if Trump had been president, the war in Gaza wouldn’t have happened. But if it had, it would have been long finished. And the hostages would have been home. I also think the economy is going to be better with Trump.
How concerned are you about antisemitism–especially in your Hasidic community in Brooklyn?
It’s just getting worse. It’s even worse than it was a year ago. People who attack Jews are not scared anymore. I think it’s because they know they’re going to be out of jail quickly. They go in, they’re booked, and then they’re out the next day.
Do you think the country is in for a tough time politically no matter who wins?
Now it’s not so bad. It’s like the regular back-and-forth in every election. But the political situation in America is going to become much worse—if not after the election, then in four years. It’s just that the world is getting crazy. The Democrats are not the moderate Democrats of a half-century ago. And it’s a different Republican Party too. You have an incumbent who decides not to run again, and the vice president steps in. And then you have a previous president running again. This has never happened in history. At the start Biden was normal. But he became older overnight. It turned out that he’s not 100 percent. And we’ve had the whole thing with Trump and his trials. It’s a different roller coaster now. A lot of things have changed since a year ago.